If you’ve yet to upgrade to Mac OS X 10.6 or Mac OS X 10.7, there’s some good news.

Per Macworld, Apple on Monday released a pair of security updates for the older operating system: Leopard Security Update 2012-003 and Flashback Removal Security Update.

The Leopard Security Update disables older versions of Adobe Flash Player that don’t contain the latest security updates, prompting you to upgrade instead. That mirrors an update Apple offered for Safari on Snow Leopard and Lion last week.

The Flashback Removal Security Update finds and removes the most common variants of that malware; the updater may need to restart your Mac to complete the removal of any malware.

Both updates are available directly from Apple’s website or via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature and require Mac OS X 10.5.8 to install and run.

If you’ve tried the updates/malware removal tools and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Per computing.co.uk, Apple has invited Kaspersky Lab to consult on potential OS X security issues following the aftermath of the largest malware outbreak on the platform.

Kaspersky has begun analyzing the OS X platform at Apple’s request, the company’s chief technology officer, Nikolai Grebennikov, said in an interview with Computing. The Kaspersky executive has publicly called Apple out for not taking security seriously enough.

“Mac OS is really vulnerable, and Apple recently invited us to improve its security,” Grebennikov said. We’ve begun an analysis of its vulnerabilities, and the malware targeting it.”

As one specific security issue with OS X, he noted that Apple has blocked Oracle from directly updating Java on the Mac. Instead, Apple handles the updates, and they typically arrive months after Oracle issues its own patches.

Mac-centric Java development is set to move to Oracle following the latest runtime updates built in-house at Apple. Apple dropped Java from the default installation of OS X 10.7 Lion after the company announced its plans to deprecate the software’s release from the Mac platform.

In April, Oracle released its first Java Development Kit and JavaFX Software Development Kit for Mac users. They arrived one and a half years after Apple announced the depreciation of its own edition of Java for Mac.

Kaspersky’s newfound partnership with Apple comes on the heels of the Flashback malware botnet, which was believed to have infected hundreds of thousands of Macs at its peak. The presence of Flashback was greatly diminished after Apple released a series of software updates to squash the malware, including a Java update and a separate removal tool.

Grebennikov cited the Flashback malware as “a huge sign that Apple’s security model isn’t perfect.” He also predicted that the first malware targeting Apple’s iOS mobile operating system, which powers the iPhone and iPad, will arrive in the next “year or so.”

Per MacRumors, a series of Geekbench benchmarks that appear to be from unreleased versions of Apple’s MacBook Pro and iMac computers have surfaced online and serve as compelling evidence of upcoming upgrades from the company.

Scores for a MacBook Pro9,1 and an iMac13,2 were discovered by a MacRumors forum user on Sunday, as noted by the publication. Though it’s possible the results were spoofed, the model numbers, if accurate, are higher than Apple’s current-generation models.

According to the benchmarks, the MacBookPro9,1 was running Max OS X 10.8 (Build 12A211), a build that has yet to be released to developers. The machine reportedly made use of a quad-core 2.70 GHz Core i7-3820QM processor and received a GeekBench score of 12,252. That compares to a score of around 10,500 for the Core i7-2860QM processor found in the current MacBook Pro.

Benchmarks for the alleged iMac13,2 were posted a few days before the MacBook Pro results. The desktop was also powered by a quad-core i7 chip, though the model number was 3770 and the clock speed was 3.40 GHz. The operating system for the iMac was described as Mac OS X 10.8 (Build 12A2040), which may have been running an earlier build of Mac OS X 10.8 than that of the aforementioned MacBook Pro. The Geekbench score for the iMac came in at 12,183.

The report also noted that the motherboard identifiers for both machines match up with Mac models discovered in the first developer preview of OS X 10.8.

Geekbench has served as an accurate source of leaks in the past. In 2010, early benchmarks matched the eventual specifications of a MacBook Pro upgrade.

In March, benchmarks reportedly for “Hackintosh” Ivy Bridge-powered computers appeared online. A 3.50GHz Core i7-3770K CPU running Mac OS X 10.7 was said to have received a score of 13,453.

Chipmaker Intel officially launched its Ivy Bridge architecture late last month. Ahead of the release, CEO Paul Otellini indicated that the “bulk” of the first wave of chips would go to desktop computers. A second batch of Ivy Bridge processors bound for lightweight notebooks are scheduled to be released later this quarter.

Rumors have also suggested that Apple will release new iMacs in June or July. One report claimed last month that the new iMacs will feature anti-reflective displays.

On Thursday, shareware developer Maintain released version 5.3 of CocktailCocktail (Lion Edition), the popular shareware utility program that allows for additional Mac OS X system tests. The new version, a 3 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and features:

– Added ability to clear DNS cache.

– Added ability to modify the delay for auto-show of the Dock (Interface – Dock).

On Thursday, shareware developer Maintain released version 5.2 of CocktailCocktail (Lion Edition), the popular shareware utility program that allows for additional Mac OS X system tests. The new version, a 3 megabyte download, adds the following fixes and features:

– Major improvements to the scheduler.

– Added ability to automatically purge inactive memory.

– Fixed compatibility issues with Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.

– Fixed compatibility issues Firefox 12.

– Improvements on the clear potentially harmful files procedure.

– Updated Automator actions.

Cocktail 5.2 retails for a US$19.00 shareware registration fee and requires Mac OS X 10.7 or later to install and run.

The updated driver provides updated support for HP’s entire line of printers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function machinery when connecting to a Mac running OS X 10.6 or later. The update is available as a 524.8 MB download download from Apple’s Support website.

The company also released version 2.4 of its Samsung printers drivers for Mac OS X 10.6 and 10.7. The new drivers offer updated support for Samsung’s base of printers, scanners, fax machines, and multi-function peripherals and are available as a 27.6 megabyte download from Apple’s support website.

The updates can also be located, snagged and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature.

If you’ve installed the update and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

– Upload functionality for SharePoint sites is improved. This update fixes an issue in which you receive the following error message when you upload a file to a SharePoint site: Upload Failed You must sign in to save your changes to the server.

– The Italian grammar checker is improved. This update fixes an issue in which the Italian grammar checker does not check a complete document.

– The German grammar checker is improved. This update fixes an issue in which the German grammar checker does not check a complete document when the document contains certain German sentences.

Improvements for Microsoft Outlook for Mac 2011:
– The database and the rebuild utility are improved. This update includes fixes that increase the robustness of the database and that improve the effectiveness of the rebuild utility. Outlook for Mac uses the Office database to store personal information, such as messages and contacts.

– This update fixes issues that cause database corruptions, instability, and crashes. This update also improves database transactions and the ability to recover from certain errors. If there is a problem within the database, Outlook for Mac starts the Database Utility, which tries to rebuild the database. After you install this update, the Database Utility recovers additional account information, such as shared resources and categories, and recovers from corruption scenarios. This update also adds the ability to cancel a database rebuild in Outlook for Mac.

– IMAP account sync that includes support for synchronizing with Gmail is improved. After you install this update, Outlook for Mac updates new messages in IMAP folders regularly. Additionally, Outlook for Mac users who use Gmail accounts can map folders, such as Drafts, Deleted Items, Sent Items, and Junk E-Mail, automatically.

– Exchange email message sync is improved. This update introduces a new sync model for Exchange. The new model enables Outlook for Mac to download an email message in parts. For example, Outlook for Mac first downloads and displays message text and then downloads large images and attachments.

– Downloading messages in parts reduces the load on the Exchange server and improves performance for the user.

– Support for calendar scheduling resources is improved. This update improves support for calendar scheduling resources and for free/busy comparison functionality in the Scheduling Assistant.

– Week numbers are added to the calendar display. This update adds a preference to enable the calendar to display week numbers.

– Distribution list expansion functionality is included. This update enables you to expand distribution lists into individual members when you add a distribution list in the To field or rest the mouse pointer on a distribution list.

Improvements for Microsoft PowerPoint for Mac 2011:
– Functionality for pasting special hyperlinks is included. This update introduces functionality that enables you to paste special hyperlinks in PowerPoint.

– The list of co-authors is improved. This update fixes an issue in which you cannot see the list of co-authors in a presentation.

– Full Screen View in Lion is supported. This update supports Full Screen View in PowerPoint. Additionally, when you close slide show mode in PowerPoint, edit mode opens.

– The user information display in templates is improved. This update fixes an issue in which a Word template does not display a user’s name, address, telephone number, fax number, and email address when you view the template after the template is saved in .doc format.

Microsoft Office 2011 14.2.1 requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.5.8 or later to install and run and for the Service Pack 1 updater to have been previously installed.

If you’ve tried the new version and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.

Late Thursday, Apple released Java for Mac OS X 10.6 Update 8, the update removing the most common variants of the Flashback malware. The 80.6 megabyte download requires Mac OS X 10.6.8 to install and run.

The company also released Java for Mac OS X Lion 2012-003, which also looks to remove the most common type of the now-infamous Flashback malware. The 63.8 megabyte download requires OS X 10.7 or later to install and run.

The updates, which can be located, downloaded and installed via Mac OS X’s Software Update feature. If you’ve tried the new versions and have any feedback to offer, please let us know in the comments.